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Champagne has a reputation as refined, elegant, and delicate. While this reputation fits much of the wine from the heart of the Champagne region, today’s wine is another story. Domaine Jacques Robin is a small grower producer in the Côtes des Bar, a satellite sub-region of Champagne an hour to the south.
The “Michel” of Gros fame is now fully retired – or, at least, as fully retired as a winemaker can be with 45 vintages under his belt, a house nearby, and his name on the label. His son Pierre has taken the reins, representing, in Neal Martin’s words, “a change in tack rather than charting a totally different course.” Like many of his peer group Pierre has moved the domaine toward organics, and if his first few vintages at the helm are any indication, the future at Gros may be even brighter than the past.
The Maconnais has long been one of our favorite sources for white Burgundy. This southern sub-region produces wines with an often friendlier character than those of the famous Côte d’Or to the north. Maconnais whites typically have low or no oak, they’re more affordable, and require less cellaring.
Arnaud Baillot is a bit of an anomaly in Burgundy – he has no family connection to wine or the region, and has only been making wine for six years. His wife Laure is of a storied Burgundian family (Hudelot-Noëllat), but they have short winemaking experience and almost zero reviews. We met him in a […]
The pursuit of freshness is a perennial struggle for white Burgundy vignerons these days. They’ve adapted to warmer, drier summers by delaying pruning, harvesting earlier, and tweaking their cellar work. But Chardonnay loves the sun, and inattentive growers can end up with overripe, high alcohol wines.
The Northern Rhône represents (for now) the northern limit of where Syrah can ripen fully. As with many grapes, the area of northernmost range produces the most elegant and delicate expression of the grape – think South African Shiraz, now picture its opposite.
The 2022 red Burgundies are quickly becoming one our favorite vintages. From the warmest, driest year in recent memory, winemakers managed to craft vibrant and beautifully balanced wines, sporting low alcohol and classic Burgundian finesse. They’re modern in their sunny polish, but traditional in their middleweight, elegant textures. If this is the future of Burgundy, sign us up.
Pierre Vessigaud is our newest white Burgundy source, and he’s among our most exciting finds in years. A committed, Demeter certified biodynamic vigneron (the highest organic classification), Vessigaud’s wines are extraordinary in their complexity and sophistication. He’s brand new to our portfolio, but his wines have already stolen the show at several Depot tastings.
We love discovering new wines and domaines – exciting new sources full of energy and innovation. But sometimes we open a bottle that reminds us of just how good some of the wines already in our cellar are. This week we enjoyed a bottle of Goubert’s Gigondas “Cuvée Florence,” and it was simply outstanding.
Chablis continues to be an excellent source for well-priced everyday white Burgundy – weeknight bottles that are crisp, useful, and delicious. But high-end Chablis can be extraordinary. Cuvées from Chablis’s seven famous Grand Crus show a depth and power that’s remarkable for a white wine.
Regular readers will know Gautier Desvignes, the humble, friendly, thirtysomething winemaker who has transformed his modest family domaine into a top name in the region. William Kelley writes that Desvignes is “one of the leading lights in the Côte Chalonnaise,” and we wholeheartedly agree. Gautier’s 2022s show a talented winemaker at the top of his game.
The Loire Valley is an enormous region, stretching more than half-way across France. Indeed it’s better thought of as three regions: Upper Loire in the east (Sancerre), Lower Loire in the West (Muscadet), and Central Loire between. The Central Loire is the most diverse, producing white, red, rosé, sparkling, sweet and dry wines – but its most famous product is Vouvray.
Poggerino is often cited as a reference point for Chianti Classico. Vinous writes of their Poggerino’s “remarkable purity and nuance,” and Rajat Parr calls their wines “excellent” and “some of the purest expressions of the grape in Italy.”
It’s easy to forget just how big Bordeaux is. The region produces more than a quarter of the wine made in France – more than Burgundy, Champagne, the Loire and Rhône Valleys, and Alsace combined. The top Bordeaux chateaux get most of the press, but there’s an ocean of wine, much of it quite interesting, in a far more reasonable price category.
The Maconnais is a charming, impossibly picturesque subregion of Burgundy at its southern end. Quaint stone farmhouses and Charolais cattle dot a rolling countryside that lazily switches between lush green pastures and fields of vines. The wines coming from this region have never been better, and we’re thrilled to have expanded our portfolio here substantially in the last few years.